ALCF AI Testbed Training Workshops
Starting April of 2024, the ALCF hosted a series of training workshops that introduced researchers to the novel AI accelerators deployed at the ALCF AI Testbed. The four individual workshops demonstrated to participants the architecture and software of the SambaNova DataScale SN30 system, the Cerebras CS-2 system, the Graphcore Bow Pod system, and the GroqRack system.
ALCF Hands-on HPC Workshop
Held in October at Argonne, the ALCF Hands-on HPC Workshop is designed to help attendees boost application performance on ALCF systems. The three-day workshop provided an opportunity for hands-on time on Polaris and AI Testbeds focusing on porting applications to heterogeneous architectures (CPU + GPU), improving code performance, and exploring AI/ML applications development on ALCF systems. For a recap of the 2024 event, read the article on our website.
ALCF INCITE GPU Hackathon
In May, the ALCF hosted its GPU Hackathon for the fourth time, a hybrid event designed to help developers accelerate their codes on ALCF resources and prepare for the INCITE call for proposals. The multi-day hackathon gave attendees access to ALCF’s Polaris system. Out of the 20 teams that participated this year, 11 teams were part of ongoing INCITE projects, and out of the 9 remaining teams, six teams applied for 2025. Teams involved were researching a vast array of topics including genome structure and function, deep protein design for synthetic biology, and genetics data. For a recap of the 2024 event, read the article on our website.
ATPESC 2024
The annual Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing (ATPESC) marked its 12th year in 2024. The two-week event offers training on key skills, approaches, and tools needed to design, implement, and execute computational science and engineering applications on high-end computing systems, including exascale supercomputers. The program features talks from leading computer scientists and HPC experts; and hands-on training using DOE leadership-class systems at ALCF, OLCF, and NERSC. In 2024, ATPESC attracted 75 attendees from 54 different institutions worldwide.
Aurora Early Science Program Workshops (ESP)
The Intel Center of Excellence (COE), in collaboration with ALCF’s Early Science Program, held multiday events where select ESP and ECP project teams worked on developing, porting, and profiling their codes on Sunspot with help from Intel and Argonne experts. The events were geared toward developers and emphasized using the Intel software development kit to get applications running on testbed hardware. Teams were also given the opportunity to consult with ALCF staff and provide feedback. ALCF staff also held dedicated office hours on a range of topics from programming models to profiling tools.
2024 INCITE Proposal Writing Webinars
In spring, the INCITE program, ALCF, and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) jointly hosted two webinars on effective strategies for writing an INCITE proposal.
Monthly ALCF Webinars
The ALCF continued to host the monthly ALCF Developer Sessions, aimed at training researchers and increasing the dialogue between HPC users and the developers of leadership-class systems and software. Speakers in the series included developers from Argonne, covering topics such as deep learning frameworks on Aurora, Intel performance profiling tools on Aurora, remote workflows at the ALCF, and the QMCPACK team’s journey to exascale on Aurora.